Acting President Yemi Osinbajo will on Thursday, July 27, 2017 inaugurate the world-class fertilizer plant built by Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, a programme obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) indicates.
The petrochemicals complex was originally fully-owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria and commissioned in 1996 but was never properly managed as at no time did the company operate to its potential.
According to the programme, the plant which has capacity for 1.5 million Metric Tons of Urea fertilizer is the world’s largest single-train Urea plant, and one of the ambitious green field projects of Indorama in Nigeria.
NAN gathered that the Plant has a production capacity of 4000 metric tons (MT) of nitrogenous fertilizers per day or 1.5 MT per annum. The world-scale plant has been built with an investment of USD 1.5 billion, a huge Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a Consortium of 15 European and African banks and Financial Institutions.
The fertilizer plant is well supported by Port Terminal at the nearby Onne Port Complex, and a Gas Pipeline of 83.5KM for gas supply..
The plant will bring about a green revolution in the agriculture sector not only in Nigeria but also in other parts of Africa and world at large.
Besides, making the fertilizer products to be available at affordable cost, the plant will boost crop yield to farmers and greatly help in minimizing the food grain deficit in Nigeria.
The plant has also generated lots of job opportunities contributing to the economic prosperity of Nigeria.
The construction of the plant commenced in April 2013 and completed in December 2015. The commissioning activities were concluded in March 2016 and the commercial production started in June 2016.
Under the current equity shareholding in Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited, Indorama Group has 65 percent; and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has 10 percent.
The other equity shareholding indicates that the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), 5 percent; Rivers State Government, 10 percent; Host Communities, 7.5 percent; and Nigerian workers, 2.5 percent.
